The monsoon has begun, and with it, the mosquitoes have arrived. While the State health department, along with three other departments, has launched a massive drive for mosquito control, health officials say residents too need to ensure their homes are clean and free of breeding grounds.
Thousands of personnel have been deployed across the State to eliminate one of the key problems – empty, unused containers that collect rain water and become breeding sources for mosquitoes. “10 people have been deployed at each block – making 3,850 people for the 385 blocks in the State. Similarly, there are people deployed at every level – town panchayat, panchayat union, municipality and corporation. They remove discarded tyres, plastic drums, cups, bowls and coconut shells, wherever they find them,” says K. Kolandaisamy, Director of Public Health.
Every public place is scoured, but the difficulty, Dr. Kolandaisamy says, arises as a lot of such potential breeding sources lie in the backyards of houses or between flats in complexes. “Residents have to be aware that such items when filled with water during rains become breeding sources. They have to be removed,” he notes.
Apart from removal, the department is also focusing on putting larvicide into large tanks of unused water tanks and wells and educating residents to clean their tanks with bleaching powder. “In fact, we have even asked our personnel to go around with a box of mosquito larvae to show residents what it looks like so they can eliminate it,” he says.
Any area that has high density of mosquitoes is immediately fogged, as is a locality where fever cases have been reported. The school education department, which has also been tied up for the drive, is ensuring that schoolchildren are taught about breeding places and all headmasters report any fever case or absenteeism to the local medical officer.
This year too, for the first time, mikes rigged to jeeps are being used to spread the message about mosquitoes and need to eliminate them. “This has already been done in the last 10 days in suburbs such as Poonamallee, Avadi and Red Hills and will be done within Corporation limits too,” says Dr. Kolandaisamy.
While nuisance mosquitoes are a problem in areas near rivers, it is disease causing mosquitoes such as the Aedes and Anopheles that residents need to be careful about. “There are about 1.5 crore households across the State. We need the help of all residents, including school and college students to ensure the mosquito control drive is successful,” he points out.